China Says Kerry’s Call for Internet Freedom Naive

(Reuters) – China criticized U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday for his “naive” call for more Internet freedom in the country, and wondered why his discussion with Chinese bloggers had not touched upon Edward Snowden.

During an approximately 40-minute chat with bloggers in Beijing on Saturday, Kerry expressed his support for online freedom in China, as well as for human rights in general.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said outsiders had no right to pass judgment and misunderstood the real situation.

“If China’s Internet had not gone through enormous development in the past few years then where would these bloggers have come from?” she told a daily news briefing.

“China’s affairs must be decided by Chinese people based on their own national condition. Using methods like this to push China in a direction of change they want, isn’t that rather naive?” Hua added.

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